New Brunswick COVID-19 Update

Public Health reported five new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday.

All five cases are self-isolating and are as follows:

Two cases in Zone 3 (Fredericton region):

• an individual under 19; and
• an individual 60 to 69.

Of these, one is related to travel and one is a close contact of a known case.

• an individual 20 to 29 in Zone 5 (Campbellton region) whose case is travel related;
• an individual 50 to 59 in Zone 6 (Bathurst region) whose case is travel related; and
• an individual 50 to 59 in Zone 7 (Miramichi region) whose case is travel related.

“We are seeing more travel-related cases, which means it remains very important to keep your number of close contacts low and follow strict self-isolation guidelines for out-of-province travellers, especially during this holiday period,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health. “We still have a long way to go and limiting your contacts will reduce the spread of infections so we can avoid a surge of new cases in January.”

The number of confirmed cases in New Brunswick now stands at 585 and 530 have recovered. There have been eight deaths. The number of active cases is 46. Two patients are hospitalized of which one is in intensive care. As of today, 148,195 tests have been conducted.

Moncton vaccination clinic

A vaccination clinic to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to front-line health-care workers commenced today in Moncton at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre.

Mandatory order revised

The state of emergency mandatory order was revised yesterday to move Zone 4 to the Yellow level and adjust requirements under the recovery levels.

Exposure notifications

Public Health follows a standard process when addressing instances where the public may have been exposed to a case of COVID-19. In cases where record-keeping is able to identify anyone who may have been exposed, officials contact these individuals directly and do not issue a separate announcement. In cases where officials cannot be certain of exactly who may have been exposed to the virus in a given location, Public Health issues an announcement to alert those who could have been affected and provides instructions.

On Dec. 23, Public Health identified a positive case in a traveller who may have been infectious on Dec. 16 while on the following flights:

• Air Canada Flight 176 – from Edmonton to Toronto, arrived at 6:30 a.m.
• Air Canada Flight 404 – from Toronto to Montreal, arrived at 10:16 a.m.
• Air Canada Flight 8902– from Montreal to Moncton, arrived at 3:54 p.m.

Everyone who travelled on these flights should continue to follow the directives given to them during the travel registration process and when they entered New Brunswick.